


SEPTEM

by foxesbox



Category: Cartoon Therapy (Web Series), Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Character Death, Depression mention, Gen, Human AU, M/M, Manipulation, Self Sacrifice, Sort Of, Sympathetic Deceit, Sympathetic Remus, Unsympathetic Patton, im really bad at tagging stuff, patton is a bit of a jerk, slight remus x logan, uhh thats a lie hes a big jerk, youll see - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 10:57:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20152486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxesbox/pseuds/foxesbox
Summary: (BASED OFF OF 'SEPTEM' BY HAZEL HAYES, A SHORT FILM ON YOUTUBE.)Emile, Roman, Remus, Deceit, Logan, Patton and Virgil all decide to apply for a deadly gameshow who's rules change every episode. This episode the rules are simple. Someone must take the pill on the table, or everyone dies.





	SEPTEM

**Author's Note:**

> i really love the short film Septem, and so i decided to try and rewrite the story but with the sides (and Picani so we had 7 characters)  
go watch the film if you havent yet! its good!

“_’In front of you is a pill. Within the next twenty-five minutes, one of you must take the pill. If after twenty-five minutes nobody has taken it, you will all die. Survivors will win their share of fifty million dollars. Good luck.’_”

Emile Picani was the one to read the note out loud for everyone to hear. The rest of the game’s players stared at the open, gold box in front of them where a small white pill sat, staring back. The game was simple.

Emile looked up and around at the other players. “W-Well then. I don’t quite think that’s what we expected today!”

He seemed unusually cheery for someone who’d just been told they might die, if you were to ignore the shake in his voice. He placed the notecard back down next to the pill and bit his lip. “We don’t have long. Maybe we should introduce ourselves and go from there?”

The other players all nodded. Emile decided to start.

“Well, my name is Emile Picani! I love cartoons and helping people. I’m a therapist! I thought coming onto the show would be an interesting way to make money that I can use to make my office more comforting for my clients, and to help one of my friends with his coffee shop.”

He turned to the player next to him, a tan male with wild, dark brown curls and a spark in his eye.

“I’m Remus~” He said, shooting a flirty look at the serious looking man at the other end of them table. “I was bored. That’s it really. I applied to be on the show because I was bored.” He sat back in his chair, plucking one of the grapes from the bunch on the table, throwing it up into the air and catching it between his lips. He winked at the serious man, who just rolled his eyes and looked away.

“I’m Roman, I’m Remus’ brother,” The next man said. The resemblance was there, although Roman’s look wasn’t quite as wild as his brother’s was. His hair, while dark brown and curly, was highlighted with streaks of red and pink. “I joined the show to make sure Remus doesn’t do anything stupid.” His eyes moved to the dusty blonde man sat on the other side of him. “And I know him, too. We went to school together.”

The blonde man sat up straight, his fingers locked together, a slight smirk on his face. The left side of his face was covered in what could only be assumed to be a birthmark, one that upon a closer look seemed to resemble scales. He raised an eyebrow when attention moved to him. “Oh, it’s my turn?”

Emile nodded and smiled. “Your turn!”

Deceit let out a small sigh and shrugged. “My name is Deceit.”

“And?”

Deceit leaned back and crossed his arms. “And that is all I’m sharing.”

“Oh, come on, everyone else is talking, you can’t just refuse,” Whined the pale boy in the purple hoodie, who had yet to introduce himself.

“There are no rules to follow besides the rules about the pill,” Deceit said. “I don’t have to do or say anything.”

The pale boy groaned and looked away. The guy next to him just smiled instead. “You’re right, kiddo. No need to share if you don’t want to!”

Everyone’s attention then turned to the guy who’d just spoken.

“I’m Patton,” He said with a grin. “I work as a babysitter and I volunteer at local animal shelters when I have free time. I came here in hopes to win money to help out my favourite shelter.”

“Virgil,” The pale boy spoke up, although his voice was muffled by his hand as he bit his nails. “I’m just a student. I’m studying literature.” He shrugged and looked away. “I don’t have much to say.”

The last man, the serious one that Remus had been sending flirty looks too, finally got a chance to speak.

“My name is Logan, I’m a math teacher in a small high school. I spend my spare time learning about new things that I find interesting, as well as trying to educate people on important topics about the world. Did you know that-“

He was cut off my Patton.

“Ok, that’s everyone! So, how are we gonna decide who takes the pill?”

Everyone fell silent again. They didn’t have a lot of time to decide, and one of them had to do it. How were they going to pick? How do you decide the value of a life? There was no way a decision could be made just within twenty-five minutes.

“I suppose it would be best if we all voted, and if everyone votes for the same person, they take the pill,” Logan suggested. “It’s either that or someone volunteers to do so. Although I doubt anyone would jump at the chance to do that.”

Everyone gave out a mumble of agreement.

“A-Alright, so… We’ll take a vote now, and then have a little break, and then vote again? Is that something that works for everyone?” Emile asked, although it was clear that he was starting to panic a little bit more.

Logan nodded. “I’ll take the votes. Does anyone want to vote for me?”

No hands were raised.

“Emile?”

No hands were raised.

“Remus?”

Emile raised his hand.

“Roman?”

No hands.

“Deceit?”

Virgil, Patton, and Logan raised their hands.

“Patton?”

Remus and Roman raised their hands.

“Virgil?”

Deceit raised his hand.

Logan nodded. “Alright. That’s one vote for Remus, three voted for Deceit, two votes for Patton, and one vote for Virgil. Would anyone like to defend themselves?”

Roman shot a glare towards Emile. “Why did you vote for Remus?”

“I- I don’t know, I’m sorry. I just- I don’t really want any of you to die, but I had to vote for someone,” Emile stuttered, nervous about the look he was receiving.

Roman didn’t seem convinced but dropped the subject.

Patton looked at the two brothers. “Why did you guys vote for me?”

“Don’t really like the vibe you’re giving off,” Remus shrugged. He grabbed another grape before turning his attention to something else on the table. Patton sighed.

Deceit looked around the table. “So, why did I receive the most votes?”

“You shared the least information, dude. At least I said what I do with my life,” Virgil said.

Deceit raised his eyebrow again and stared at Virgil. “Oh, I’m so sorry, do you want me to pull out a sob story for all of you strangers to pick apart? You’re just going to use what I say to decide if I should live or not. What’s fair about that? I’m not going to throw myself out there for nothing.”

“Maybe we should take a quick break, guys,” Emile suggested quietly.

Everyone agreed.

Patton stood up and headed towards the small table in the corner with drinks on it. Virgil quietly followed behind him, the two talking quietly about something or another. Roman and Remus stayed close to each other. Logan picked up the notecard and stared at it as if studying it for clues. Emile stayed quiet, beginning to shake. Deceit just sat by himself, eyes focusing on Roman. They’d been friends during school. He wasn’t sure why they’d ever stopped talking.

When everyone sat back down again, things seemed tense.

“Should we take another vote? Maybe speak some more?”

Patton looked at Deceit. “I want to hear what he has to say,” He said.

Deceit rolled his eyes. “I thought you said I didn’t have to, hm? Change your mind?”

“Well everyone else did. It’s not going to be a fair choice if we don’t have everyone speak.”

Deceit let out a quiet hiss. “Fine, whatever you say. I came from a quiet, poor little family, I was an only child. I put myself through school. I worked hard every day to get to where I am now. And now I study law. I came here because I was tired, and because the money reward is big enough to help me out of the situation that I’m in. Is that all? Or do you want to hear about the fact that I can barely hold a relationship, or that my parents died, or that I spent years battling depression and now I’m finally fucking better. Are you happy now?”

Everyone was silent.

Patton just smiled. “So why don’t you take the pill?” He asked.

Deceit’s head shot up. “What?”

“Well, if you’re situation is so bad, if you’re depressed… Why don’t you take the pill?” He continued. “You’re tired, right? You said so yourself. Why else would you come to this twisted gameshow in such a state?”

Deceit’s mouth opened and closed but nothing came out.

“Patton, I think that’s inappropriate-“

“No, it’s not! He could save all of us! He said he’s tired, that he’s in a bad place. Why else would he be here?”

“I- I-“ Deceit couldn’t form a sentence.

Roman’s eyes shot between Patton and Deceit before he spoke. “I think we’re ready for our final vote. Logan?”

Logan nodded. “Alright, I’ll follow the same order as previously. Would anyone like to vote for me?”

Nobody raised their hands. Deceit fiddled with the hem of his gloves. There was no way he’d get out of this one. They all hated him.

“Emile?”

No hands were raised. Deceit squeezed his eyes shut.

“Remus?”

Deceit didn’t want to look.

“Roman?”

Silence.

“Deceit?”

Deceit kept his eyes closed, refusing to look up. He didn’t want to know.

“Patton?”

Deceit raised his hand but kept his eyes glued to the floor.

“Virgil?”

More silence.

Deceit finally looked back up, eyes glued to Logan.

Logan sighed softly. “Patton, take the pill.”

Deceit sat up in shock. Patton? Deceit finally looked at Patton, who was staring around at all the guilt-filled faces that surrounded him with a look of betrayal and disappointment on his face.

“No.”

Roman finally burst.

“You can’t just say no! You were voted for, that was what we agreed on!”

Patton sat back and shook his head, folding his arms. “No. I’m not doing it. I’m a good person! I volunteer, and I look after kids, and I’m useful! Why me!?”

“You were voted out, Patton-“

Logan is once again cut off by Patton yelling. “NO! Pick someone else! Deceit refused to play along with the rest of us! Remus doesn’t even have a reason for being here! Pick one of them!”

Between all the yelling, Roman stood up. The clock in the corner showed there were only twenty seconds left. He didn’t have long. He had to do something. He looked down at the golden box in the middle of the table, looked over at his brother (Who still hadn’t noticed he’d stood up), looked at Deceit (Who was yelling at Patton with everyone else), and grabbed the pill. He popped it into his mouth and swallowed it before anyone could stop him.

Deceit noticed and shot up, running to grab hold of him.

“Roman! Oh, you idiot. Are you ok?” He asked, terrified.

Roman nodded. “Y-Yeah, it’s fine. One of us had to do it, right?”

Deceit wrapped his arms around Roman. “Y-You’re such an idiot!”

“I’m fine, Dee. I’m fine, It’s ok, shh.”

There was a coughing from behind him and he turned to see that Virgil had begun coughing up blood, red covering the plate sat in front of him. Patton’s eyes darted between Virgil and Emile – Who at this point had his head on the table, a growing pool of blood surrounding him.

“W-Wait a second-“ Patton stuttered, standing up and stumbling back. “No, no! This can’t be happening!”

Logan, who’d been watching all of this happen, caught on. “If after twenty-five minutes nobody has taken it, you will all die,” He whispered before looking up at Roman. “The pill. It was an antidote.”

Deceit suddenly felt a lot heavier in Roman’s arms. He looked down to see that Deceit too, just like the others, had begun spilling blood from his mouth and nose. Roman gently sat him down, muttering ‘no, no, no’ under his breath to himself. But it was too late.

Remus stood up from his chair, stumbling over Patton’s fallen body and towards Logan, who was struggling to breathe.

“H-Hold me?” He asked, quietly.

Logan nodded. There was no point anymore. They were all dying anyway. Remus collapsed onto the other man, the two clinging to each other in their final moments.

Roman felt tears fall down his cheeks as he watched Deceit’s eyes start to close, a small smile on his face.

“I’m glad it w-was you who survived…” Deceit whispered. He gave one final gasp of breath, and a loud cough, before falling limp against Roman’s chest.

Roman looked around the room, crying as the sound of cheers filled his ears.

He’d won, but really? Was there any real winner?


End file.
